When trying to build and leverage intercultural competence in a way that makes a true impact on your organization—we at LCW have found some blind spots and pitfalls, that we help our clients and partners to try to avoid include:

1. Focusing so heavily on building intercultural competence through training, that you neglect to consider operations (see previous post).
2. Not fully leveraging the opportunity of training, such that you fail to develop the capacity you need to make your operations and resources cross-culturally competent.
3. Developing a business case that speaks to your employees on a financial level, but not on individual level.
4. Developing a business case that speaks on an individual ‘qualitative’ level but does connect financial outcomes.
5. Thinking that a particular group or team or geography doesn’t need Intercultural Competence, when in fact it is more likely they need skills and efficacy to articulate how Intercultural Competence is impacting their work.
6. Failing to tap into the culturally competent resources and enthusiasm present in your org to help build even more IC and leverage its opportunity to make a sustaining and game-changing difference.